"It Is Finished!"
Words from the Cross • Sermon • Submitted
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28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:
PRAYER
Words from the Cross
Words from the Cross
For the past 6 weeks, during the Lenten series, we’ve been focusing on the last words from Jesus on the cross. Today we get to that final word from John. But before we go there, it think it’s important to go back to his first words.
The Gospels are the first four books of the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. After calling his disciples Jesus, according to the Gospel of Matthew shared these words with his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
the phrase the “Law or the Prophets” encompasses the entirety of the Old Testament, which was the Bible of the time. And then at the end of Jesus’ ministry here on earth, he has the words from the cross we’ve been studying.
We’ve been going through the Words of Jesus on the Cross - thus far we’ve been through:
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
We began with forgiveness and taking our sin seriously.
Our
Our need to take our sin seriously
Our need to give/receive forgiveness
And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
We talked about our Hope of being with Jesus after this life.
Not about all the religious rules
It is about depending on Jesus.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Jn 19:23-
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
We talked about relationships and our call to those relationships.
God calls us to relationship with
Jn 19:
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
We talked about how sin separates us from God, and the separation we experience every single time we sin, and Jesus took all of that on Himself at the cross.
Taking our sin very seriously.
Recognizing Christ is on the cross because of us.
John 19:28
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Last week we talked about how this is all in fulfillment of the Scriptures, AND that there is perhaps no more basic need than our thirst. We all need to hunger and thirst for Jesus.
Finally, today we get to , which reads:
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
This is an incredibly rich statement. It is only one word in the Greek.
One of the greatest reformed preachers of the 19th century wrote this concerning Jesus exuberant cry from the cross:
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XL Christ’s Dying Word for His Church (No. 2,344)
an ocean of meaning in a drop of language, a mere drop, for that is all that we can call one word. “It is finished.” Yet it would need all the other words that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word. It is altogether immeasurable.
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XL Christ’s Dying Word for His Church (No. 2,344)
To translate it into English, we have to use three words; but when it was spoken, it was only one,—an ocean of meaning in a drop of language, a mere drop, for that is all that we can call one word. “It is finished.” Yet it would need all the other words that ever were spoken, or ever can be spoken, to explain this one word. It is altogether immeasurable. It is high; I cannot attain to it. It is deep; I cannot fathom it. “Finished.”
Spurgeon, C. H. (1894). Christ’s Dying Word for His Church. In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (Vol. 40, p. 25). London: Passmore & Alabaster.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
What do we do with this term “Finished”? Why did he say this?
It’s the completion of everything Jesus came to do
We’re not so good about finishing things. How many of us have started projects that still wait around for us to complete them?
Jesus life work. Jesus has done it - this means there was no more penalty left to be paid for sins for all Jesus’ suffering was “finished”.
To comfort the church - none of the words of Jesus from the cross are addressed to his Church but this one.
Jesus laid down his life for the one’s he loves.
Not only is Christ’s suffering finished, but his Father’s as well.
The redemption of Christ’s church is perfected. There is not another penny to be paid for her full release. It is finished, once, for all.
The reality of “finished” -
You cannot make God love you more.
You cannot make God love you less.
Your debt is paid - your salvation, your redemption, your justification is complete.
“IT IS FINISHED!”
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XL Christ’s Dying Word for His Church (No. 2,344)
It was a Conqueror’s cry; it was uttered with a loud voice. There is nothing of anguish about it, there is no wailing in it. It is the cry of One who has completed a tremendous labour, and is about to die; and ere he utters his death-prayer, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” he shouts his life’s last hymn in that one word, “Finished.”
“IT IS FINISHED!”
It is a cry of victory of Jesus, for you, and for me.